We were welcomed in the ample parking lot as well as by many inside, and invited to share doughnuts and coffee in their social space. We were told of rather extensive remodel/rehab work on the facility and enjoyed the jungle motif to the halls and basement classrooms.
There was a large collection of food donated for Thanksgiving dinners for needy families. I enjoyed Nathalie’s singing and guitar and even when the congregation didn’t quiet down when she started to play, she handled the situation well. She seemed capable of leading the music and sang some of my favorites. I noted even the “gray-hairs” like me singing the contemporary praise songs with passion.
The pastor felt called to invite some forward for prayer with laying on of hands. I haven’t found many pastors who acknowledge that God blesses this.
The message was from someone else, Pastor Gary, if I heard right. He stressed through the sermon that God had a symbol, the cross. I was disappointed that I couldn’t find one in the church. There was something about how we are holy with God in us. Some of the theology seemed off; maybe Jan was able to follow better.
If God sends us back, I hope we get to hear Pastor Doug. I was glad to lift this church in prayer and pleased to see the mission involvement.
The inside of this church is intriguing. The only signage was where it was necessary. It’s a new-to-them space, comfortably arranged, with tall curtains to create hallways. We took a self-guided tour downstairs where the children’s ministry takes place, and found evidence of some incredible talent here: everything was painted in a colorful, imaginative, kid-welcoming jungle décor.
The people were very friendly and more than a few invited us for coffee and donuts prior to worship.
The music leaders consisted of a drummer and the pastor’s wife on an acoustic guitar, and they definitely led the musical portion of the service. We also got to sing two of my all-time favorite songs: “Blessed Be Your Name” and “Days of Elijah.”
I couldn’t help but notice as the words to the songs were displayed on the screen that all the pronouns referring to God were capitalized. I realize those sorts of things aren’t the most important, but to me, at least, they indicate an importance ascribed to God, and that is important.
Full disclosure: This was a new worship experience for me. I believe the pastor referred to this church as Pentecostal/charismatic (or else he was saying that they weren’t, I was a bit lost there). Either way it was certainly different, and I don’t know enough about worship in this/these denomination(s) to know what the difference would be or even to know precisely what they believe. I have experienced altar calls during worship, but never more than one per service until today.
The message, given by another pastor, was called “21st Century Temple of God.” I took probably three times as many notes on this sermon as I do for most sermons I hear. I found his preaching style somewhat difficult to follow and because there were points where, if I understood him correctly, I could not agree. For example, that Israel was the light of the world but it failed and now “you” (presumably believers) are the light. I believe Scripture refers to Jesus Christ as the light of the world. And I recognize that the Bible contains many symbols and numbers, including some symbolic numbers, but I don’t think I would say that “God loves symbols and numbers” as that attributes an entirely different connotation to those references.
However, I surely agreed with the instruction, “When God speaks to you, write it down” and “God’s goal is character development” (in a broad way, as He is at work to mold us into the image of Christ).
I would be interested to hear the pastor who introduced himself as the pastor preach so I could learn more about the beliefs and teachings of this denomination, but these are some of the thoughts with which I left the church today.
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